Illustrated - The Classic Children's Book Genre

There is nothing like beautifully illustrated children's books to create the desire to read and learn. When an adult picks up a book of illustrated stories for kids, suddenly they are transported back to their own childhoods and a time when books meant the world to them. Illustrated stories for children bring life to the words they are reading and a visual anchor for the text. Children are multifaceted in their learning and while they are young, particularly, they tend to use most of their faculties to absorb their environment. Reading beautifully illustrated children's books is an excellent way to impact a child with visuals and words to keep the story alive in their imagination.

Illustrated Children's Books Online

Today, with the marvelous venue of internet, it is possible to access illustrated children's books online. These books afford all of the color and beauty of hardcover books, only they are on a screen, something that has become quite commonplace for children these days. There are some internet sites that make illustrated children's books online readily available for kids to enjoy. If you are interested in finding more variety or another source for books online, search illustrated children's books in any search engine and you will find yourself in the midst of some excellent sites to view and evaluate. Searching illustrated children's books online opens new avenues for access to some of the best illustrated children's books available. You may be surprised to find that some of the illustrated picture books you find will be biographies of some of history's famous (and not so famous) people.

The Best of The Best

Classic illustrated children's books came into their own after World War 1. The first author of note in the modern picture book era was Wanda Gag who wrote and illustrated a very successful picture book in the 1920s called Millions of Cats. It was a million-seller that was published in 1928. Following her, that era produced a series of writers and illustrators of children's books. Lois Lenski wrote The Little Engine that Could in 1930 and Jean de Brunhoff created Babar in 1931. Ludwig Bemelmans created the Madeline series in 1933 and Dr. Seuss appeared on the scene with his first book And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street in 1937. Pumpkin Moonshine by Tasha Tudor arrived in 1938 and one of the more famous and still in print children's illustrated book series is Curious George, introduced by H.A. Rey in 1941.

Today, Amazon's list of best illustrated children's books includes the following in their top ten:

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

The Three Pigs by David Wiesner

Sophie's Masterpiece - A Spider's Tale by Eileen Spinelli

George Washington's Cows by David Small

The King Who Rained by Fred Gwynne

If You Give A Mouse A Cookie (If You Give...) by Laura Joffe Numeroff

Jumanji (Especiales de a la Orilla del Viento) (Spanish Edition) by Allsburg

The Night I Followed The Dog by Nina Laden

Olivia by Ian Falconer

Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Sports Illustrated For Kids!

On top of illustrated books, a famous magazine publisher has created a series of magazines for kids that is off the charts in popularity. Sports Illustrated for Kids books are specifically designed for kids who love sports - both boys and girls. Sports are presented in such a way that kids are really drawn to the magazines. There are great action photos, easy-to-read stories about star athletes, tips from professional players in all sports venues, humor, comics, and activities. The bonus, and probably one of the keys to the magazine's popularity, is the two-sided pull-out poster of two superstar athletes along with nine sports cards. Sports Illustrated for Kids books has won highest honors from the Association of Educational Publishers and the Parents' Choice Awards.

A new and interesting phenomenon has hit the illustrated picture books arena, this time from Japan. The product is called shinigami illustrated picture books and they are action comic illustrations that are available online. They are produced in Japanese with English subtitles and seem to be the latest rage when it comes to illustrated picture books online.

Finding Your Own Illustrator

If you are a children's book writer, you know that part of the joy of writing children's material is the illustrations. If you have the copy, you may be wondering how to get it illustrated. Finding the right illustrator is important to the success of any children's book. The publisher may request that you supply only the copy, they'll find the illustrator themselves. If you want to illustrate your own book, check the guidelines of the publishing company to see if it is feasible. If you need an illustrator, consult a database of artist portfolios to hire an illustrator.